


When a Princess keeps a Hoodie Captive

by rosapastel



Category: I Love Yoo (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Theatre AU, amusement park au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24394819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosapastel/pseuds/rosapastel
Summary: Shin-ae unwillingly becomes the princess for the Amusement Park's play. She doesn't except the play's prince to be so kind. Even less to fall for him.
Relationships: Hirahara "Nol" Yeong-Gi/Yoo Shin-Ae
Comments: 11
Kudos: 35





	When a Princess keeps a Hoodie Captive

Shin-ae could feel herself grow heavier as she neared the backstage area of the theater. She already felt the costume gouge her skin. Already sensed the humidity of the bear head she had to wear. 

Having nothing more to stall on, Shin-ae walked into the dressing room. The lethargy she felt was impossibly grueling, to the point that she couldn't even get past her costume's right leg. A soft knock interrupted the quiet bustle of the dressing room. 

"Hello, girls," Shin-ae turned to see her manager cross the room. "I'm sure most of you have noticed that our dear Alyssa could not make it today."

For the first time since she'd arrived, Shin-ae turned to look at the other members of the cast. It was true that Alyssa, the princess in their amusement park play, had yet to arrive. 

"On such short notice, we're going to need one of you to fill in." 

A murmur of words erupted from the small room. Many protests and a few volunteers. 

"I'll do it!" Maya, the baker's wife in the play, said.

Her manager shook her head, "I'm sorry, Maya, but you play a significant role in the play. How else is the princess supposed to find the magic gem?" 

Shin-ae continued to zip her costume, unconcerned by the chaos. 

"Shin-ae!"

She looked up at the sudden call of her name. Her manager was staring at her wide-eyed as if she'd just invented fried chicken. Then it hit her. 

"You can play the princess, can't you?" Her manager asked with a hopeful disposition.

Shin-ae stumbled back, "No, I can't. I play one of the bears."

"We can live with one bear," her manager pleaded, "please, Shin-ae."

Everyone in the room looked at her, their show, but most importantly, check on the line. After an agonizing minute of uncomfortable silence, she responded with the last of her resolve, "Fine."

"Great, the costume is in the third locker. Maya, please help her with makeup. And Shin-ae, don't worry too much about the lines, improvisation will help you; In any case, a copy of the script should be in the drawers." 

Shin-ae frowned at the comment, sure she didn't wear makeup, but she couldn't be that incompetent. However, as Maya asked her what shade of foundation she wore, she figured a little help wouldn't be too bad. 

"Oh, come on, why are you frowning so much." 

"I'm not frowning," Shin-ae replied.

Maya huffed. "You've got worry lines across your forehead; I'm afraid it'll crack the base I'm putting on. What's so bad about being the princess anyway?"

Shin-ae relaxed her face, "It's not that." She toyed with the end of the dress' sleeve. "I just don't like to be the center of attention."

Maya rolled her eyes, "Come on. It's just for a day." 

She couldn't argue with that. Then, Maya got a mischievous look on her face that made Shin-ae uneasy. "Plus, you get to kiss the prince," she said in a sing-song way. 

Shin-ae blushed at that. "W-what?! A kiss? Since when was there a kiss." 

Her coworker gave her an incredulous stare. "Are you serious? There's always been a kiss. I swear, are you even part of the play?"

"I appear for two scenes, and I usually nap in between." 

Maya shook her head. "Anyways, you should consider yourself lucky to be kissing such a handsome guy. There."

She looked happy about her work; on the other hand, Shin-ae could barely focus as her mind mulled over what her coworker had just said. Sure, Nol was traditionally handsome, but that didn't mean Shin-ae was ready to have her first kiss. Especially in front of a bunch of strangers. Not only that, but most of their audience was teenage girls. 

Since it was summer, girls would swarm their play to watch the redheaded prince in hopes of garnering his attention. It was just the end of May, and he had already gathered significant traction for the amusement park. 

"We go out in ten," called their stage manager. 

Shin-ae slumped on her chair, reading over her lines. Thankfully, she'd memorized most of them out of boredom one day after being done with her first part. However, she had yet to find this so-called kiss scene. 

"Hey, Rika?" 

A blue-haired woman turned from her mirror, "What's up?"

She played the princess' servant and best friend. Unlike Maya, who seemed to talk to Shin-ae for business purposes, Rika seemed to genuinely like talking to her. "When does the kissing scene happen," she fumbled with her script book, "I mean, I can't find anything here." 

Rika pulled out her own script and flipped through a few pages before showing Shin-ae some handwritten notes. "The stage manager decided to add it in the end, said something about Disney ending or some crap like that but really, I think she did it to get those tweens to keep coming."

They both laughed. Shin-ae had to admit it helped alleviate the stress if only for a minute. 

"You like nice, by the way," Rika commented as she exited the wardrobe room. 

For the first time, Shin-ae noticed how the dress seemed to enhance her proportions. Maya had also done a great job with the makeup, though she wasn't sure if the blush was her doing. The yellow dress thankfully fell well above her feet, so the lack of fear of tripping on it minimized her stress. 

As she exited behind the curtain, she dared to peek at the audience. She inwardly cursed; it was a full house. Despite the sizzling heat outside, the packs of girls had still taken over the theater. 

She swallowed, the nerves nestling themselves back on her mind as unwelcoming as they were. "You must be Shin-ae."

Shin-ae turned to face the familiar voice. Although Shin-ae had few interactions with the amusement park prince, she recognized his melodic voice. It wasn't as deep as she'd imagined it to be, considering how he towered over her, but it still had a nice color. 

"Yeah," she answered suddenly, aware of how attractive he was. His hair was styled back while his suit was military esque, but in a princely way. The buttons were a vibrant gold that would have looked tacky on anyone else. 

He smiled fondly, "I just wanted to come by in case you needed to run by some lines or had any questions? I know this all happened so fast, you must have been taken aback." 

Shin-ae fiddled with her hands, debating to talk about the kiss. "Actually … there is something that's been bothering me."

Nol stared intently, "Yeah, of course, what is it?" 

She appreciated how genuinely he reacted. "It's a bit stupid, embarrassing, but … I've sorta never kissed anyone, and I'm afraid of messing up on stage."

He frowned. "Shin-ae, that's neither stupid or embarrassing. To be honest, it's just a quick peck, kinda like one on the cheek; only it's on your mouth."

Shin-ae rolled her eyes. 

"Sorry that didn't help." Nol extended his hand and rested it on her shoulder, slightly alerting her from the sudden touch. However, as the warmth from his hand seeped into her body, she found the gesture welcoming. "I mean, it will be so quick you won't even feel it. Still, if you feel like you aren't ready for it, we don't have to do it."

"Really?!" She looked up with hope. 

Another commercial like smile. "Really."

Her shoulders relaxed, Nol removed his hand and cleared his throat. "Alright, well, I'll see you out there?"

Shin-ae nodded, watching as he crossed the stage to talk to Dieter, the baker. Her nerves and jitters seemed to go away like the red curtain that began to open. Talking to Nol had been a good idea. She was surprised that besides being handsome, he appeared to be a nice guy. Now, as she looked at the audience overrun by teenage girls, she considered the praise towards him to be slightly less annoying. 

By the time Nol rescued her and held her hand in the play, she began to feel something akin to when she got on a rollercoaster. Aside from that, a burst of heat began coursing through her body. Shin-ae wanted to blame the theater, but it was unsurprisingly one of the only ventilated areas in the park. 

True to his word, Nol didn't kiss her, at least not on the lips. Instead, he delicately placed a peck on her hand. The crowd of girls sighed, but Shin-ae could barely hear them as her heart thudded against her chest. 

"Great job back there," their manager said before frowning, "though, we did miss the kiss."

"That was my bad," Nol stepped forward before Shin-ae could talk. "I had a cold sore."

Shin-ae mouthed a thank you, in return, he gave her a thumbs up. 

  
  


The next day Alyssa was absent again, thankfully Shin-ae had gotten a message from her manager the night before. 

Just like the day before, the performance went without a bump. The cast even compliments them on their natural chemistry. Of course, this only made Shin-ae more self-conscious because she didn't know her castmates actually watched the play after their parts were done. 

Shin-ae quickly picked up her gym back to head to her next part-time job; after all she takes two busses to get to the cheesecake factory. However, instead of heading past the backstage area, she turns to the far wall where Nol sits entranced with something on his phone. 

Like a magnet, something beckons her to go to the man. For the first time since she'd met him, he wears glasses. "Hey," she calls to him as she hovers above him. 

He looks up surprised but quickly changes his facial expression to a more relaxed one. "Oh, hey, Shin-ae. Good job today, by the way."

Nol sports a lopsided grin as she sits beside him. Her bus wasn't coming for another ten minutes. "Thanks."

After some comfortable silence, Shin-ae speaks, "I didn't know you wore glasses."

"I don't," he replied, "Well, I prefer not to, but I lost one of my contact lenses today when Soushi attacked me in his bear costume."

Shin-ae snorted before she could stop herself. 

"I guess you can say he wasn't being berry careful." He nudged her side, only this time she actually laughed. 

"That was terrible." She wrapped her arms around her knees, embarrassed at laughing at a horrible joke but happy about the feeling that continued to swell across her chest. 

"The audience laughed."

She rolled her eyes before she reverted to the previous topic, "Why don't you like wearing your glasses?"

"Ah," he scratched the nape of his neck. "Someone once told me I look bad with them."

"What?! You? Look bad?" She suddenly turned to him with bewilderment. "Is that even possible?!"

Shin-ae was suddenly aware that she'd just indirectly called him handsome literally to his face. She noticed his slightly agape mouth and dilated pupils that stared back at her with an awestruck expression. 

The thudding in her heart became so erratic that the heat radiating off her body could probably cook an egg better than the sidewalk outside. With what little dignity she had, she stood up. "I need to go."

Nol replied a soft 'okay.' Once outside, Shin-ae cursed a slew of words that made parents scowl at her. A million questions ran through her head, but the most prominent one is whether she made him uncomfortable. 

How often had she been thankful that he wasn't a creep and hadn't made her kiss him? Even taking the fault when she'd asked him not to do so. The last thing she wanted was to make him uncomfortable. All she wanted to do was apologize, but that would probably make things worse. The only thing keeping her sane was the fact that she didn't have to perform with him anymore.

Except during the weekend, she got the worst news she could have gotten. 

"What do you mean indefinitely?!" Shin-ae asked her manager on Monday morning. 

Her manager sighed and pressed the bridge of her nose, "I already told you, Alyssa got some big break over at Hollywood so she won't be able to play the princess role anymore."

"Why can't you just cast someone else?" She insisted. 

"Why, I've never seen someone so excited to go back to wearing a bear head." 

Shin-ae would be lying if she said she missed her head. It was sweltering and uncomfortable, and that's not adding the acne it had started to give her. Two days without performing in it had significantly improved her appearance. Nevertheless, she wasn't going back to face Nol.

"Shin-ae, I can't host auditions in the middle of May. We've got shows every weekday and clean up after. I simply do not have time to redo the audition process." 

She held back from telling her superior off; she did need her job after all. Tuition for next semester was four grand. "Alright," Shin-ae agreed quietly. 

When she stepped on stage, someone stumbled onto her. "Ow." She rubbed her forehead and looked up at the hard chest she'd crashed on to.

Nol. 

"Sorry," he replied, then leaned forward, squinting. "Shin-ae?"

She blushed. "Yeah."

"I'm really sorry," he repeated himself. "Still don't have my contact lenses."

"What about your glasses?"

"Manager says princes don't wear them." He shrugged.

"So, you're just going to perform blind?"

"Only 50 percent," he replied with a smile that only unsettled her more. Then she stopped herself from scowling. Here he was, trying to make her feel better after she'd made comments about his appearance. 

Relaxing her face, she replied. "Just be careful out there, okay."

A chuckle escaped his lips, "Don't worry, that's what I have you for." 

Right, it was her turn to make him feel comfortable on stage. If she hadn't known he had lost his contacts, Shin-ae wouldn't have known because as soon as he got on stage, he nailed every cue. 

When they parted for the day, Nol called her out. Her name, she admitted, sounded pleasant when he said it. 

Shin-ae wasn't particularly fond of her name since it meant bullying from some kids, and her father hadn't let her change it. Still, when her name came out of his mouth, she argued it had a nice ring. 

"Yeah?" She turned, slightly eyeing her phone to check for the time. 

Sensing her urgency, he walked the way she had been going. She quietly followed, waiting for what he wanted to say. 

"I wanted to apologize," when she whipped her head to argue he continued. "I know this wasn't what you signed up for."

Shin-ae shook her head, features softening, "It wasn't your fault, Alyssa dropped."

He scratched the back of his neck, a tick of nervousness she'd noticed. "I know, but still, kinda feel like you just got dragged along. If it makes you feel any better, I'm glad it was you."

The sun was high above, under its rays, Nol's hair almost looked ablaze. He resembled a phoenix, she thought. She noticed that as the hustle and bustle from the park grew, so did the stares towards him. 

"I just mean, I think we get each other. Alyssa always wanted things to be a certain way but with you I feel like I can be myself. Even if I'm just following a script." 

They reached the intersection where they'd part. "I'm glad it was you too."

Before he could reply, the light switched to green. With a slight bow of her head, Shin-ae crossed. She hoped that the pink dusted cheeks were from the hot California sun; after all, she had fair skin. But she knew deep down that wasn't the case. 

As the days passed, it was harder to ignore the way her heart seemed to melt whenever Nol told her 'good job' with one of his smiles after every performance. Harder to ignore when he'd laugh at her jokes backstage. Even more complicated when he'd lent her his hoodie on a random summer rainstorm. 

The yellow hoodie that hung in her room, waiting to be returned to its owner, seemed to say hello to her every morning when she got ready. Shin-ae was glad that Nol never asked for it, but she knew sooner or later she'd have to give it back out of courtesy.

Defeated, she took it down before shoving it in her backpack. Once she was in the park, getting ready for another performance, she caught sight of a box in her lowboy. She turned to Rika, "Who's is this?"

Dusting some blush on her cheek, she replied cheekily, "Yours."

Shin-ae drew her eyebrows close. "Mine? I never-"

"Nol bought them for you," Maya rolled her eyes, a sly smile plastered on her round face. 

Opening the box, she found an array of glazed donuts. Her eyes widened. Not just glazed donuts. Donuts from her favorite bakery from downtown. She sits down, recalling her conversation the week before about their favorite bakeries. 

Underneath, she finds a grease-filled paper with messy writing. 

'You were right. These are the best glazed donuts!'

Her heart leaps, no it sores. Not only had he remembered the name of the bakery, but he'd also gone all the way across town to get them for her. 

"We're out in five!"

Shin-ae could feel her stomach churn, enough to make her lose her appetite. As she went on stage and spotted Nol, all she wanted to do was to talk to him. To thank him for the donuts, and more, though she wasn't sure if she'd be able to articulate why she was thankful. 

In the final scene, as Nol embraced her, she couldn't help but squeeze him a little tighter than usual. He pulled away and tilted his head enough for her to notice but for the audience to look over. 

"Alas, my princess, we can be together." He leaned down to kiss her hand.

Shin-ae completely felt herself finally cave in. As he straightened up and gave her a kind smile, one for her not for the play, she could tell by the way his eyes closed. His nose scrunched the way he did when he laughed with her. 

The first time he'd chuckled like that, she'd noticed his freckles. It was after the cast had gone to the park after the play. He’d sat besides her on the catacomb ride. 

However, as her eyes tried to memorize his face as if it'd be the last time she'd ever see it, her gaze moved and stuck to his lips. Before she could think more, she leaned in to see if they were, in fact, as soft as they looked. 

At first, he stood stiff, taken aback by her actions. Still, as she closed her eyes, waiting for a rejection, his arms wrapped around her waist. Nol pulled her lightly as he bent down to deepen the kiss.

After a few seconds, they pulled away. It wasn't a long or passionate kiss. It was sweet and warm but by no means underwhelming. The kiss reminded her of Nol; it anchored her instead of tilting her world. He grounded her and made her feel secure.

The cheering of the crowd made them remove their hands from each other. Her cast came back and bowed. Now, it was time for the repercussions, she realized.

Maya and Rika didn't press her about the kiss, probably noting Shin-ae would punch them, lightly but still. She changed slower than usual, dreading the idea of running into him. The uncertainty if he had just kissed her for the show started to shroud her mind. They enveloped her and choked her.

Without having anything else to do to delay, she proceeded to exit the building. She found him where she'd talked to him the first time. 

Sitting with his knees up, head against the wall, however, today she noted his uneasiness by the way he pressed his hands together. 

When he spotted her, he got up and walked towards her. She met him halfway, ready to come up with an excuse but found none. 

"I-"

"Back-"

"You first," Shin-ae said, feeling her blush deepening. 

Nol let out a sigh, "Okay. Uhm, back there when you kissed me."

Shin-ae wished the ground could swallow her whole then and there. Her eyes remained on his hastily tied shoes. "Did I somehow make you think you had to kiss me?"

Taken aback, she whipped her head up at him. "No, of course not." She cleared her throat, feeling more at ease as his body became less tense. "The truth is … I wanted to kiss you. Me. Shin-ae. Not princess Petunia." 

Nol smiled, a soft one that she'd seen him make when a stray puppy got inside the theater. Shin-ae felt more encouraged to continue, "I realize it wasn't the proper time, and I should have considered your feelings too. I'm sorry."

"Shin-ae," the redhead extended his hands out for her, and she took them after a beat. "If I didn't want to kiss you, I wouldn't have done so." 

"Really?" She asked as his thumbs traced circles on the place he'd kissed every day for months. 

He nodded. "I was actually planning to confess, but you beat me to it."

She grinned. "So … am I? I mean, are we …"

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" He asked with a teasing tone.

Shin-ae reddened. "Yeah."

With no warning, he pulled her by the hands, before pressing his lips to hers. This time, he cupped her cheek, intensifying the kiss. It was more prolonged and more passionate than their first, as his tongue explored her mouth, taking Shin-ae back. While she would have normally been embarrassed by her startled expression, Nol seemed to kiss her more softly when she did so. 

Finally, when she was out of breath and pulled away. He pressed a short peck against her mouth that caused her to giggle. 

"Does that answer your question?" He inquired, pushing a stray hair from her ponytail behind her ear. 

She nodded, a timid smile on her face. "Oh," she reached for her backpack, pulling his sweater out. "I forgot, I was keeping your hoodie captive."

Nol looked at her with a goofy grin. "You can keep it."

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys, haven't written in forever because uni. please ignore any grammar mistakes >_<. comments and kudos are appreciated!


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